Nepotism

Timeline

2016.11.09

Eric Trump sits in on a meeting between his father and potential cabinet member Mitt Romney, "despite concerns surrounding the transition team that Mr Trump's family ... are too close to the president-elect’s dealings".webcache.googleusercontent.com(See also Eric Trump)

Donald Trump has suggested he may give his daughter and son-in-law a role in his administration. A law bars presidents from hiring family, but a court ruled it doesn't apply to White House staff jobs.

2017.01.10

Government ethics expert Kathleen Clark: Trump's plan to name son-in-law Jared Kushner as a senior advisor to his White House will test 1967 anti-nepostism law.washingtonpost.com(See also Jared Kushner)

2017.01.11

While shades of nepotism remain a real worry in the wake of Trump's announcement that his son-in-law Jared Kushner would serve as a senior White House adviser, a few moderates express hope that the president's closest advisor might be a moderating influence.csmonitor.com(See also Jared Kushner)

Trump hires Andrew Giuliani, son of former NYC mayor and Trump confidante Rudy Giuliani, to work in Office of Public Liaison and Intergovernmental Affairs.politico.com(See also First 100 Days)

2017.03.20

Ivanka Trump begins working out of a West Wing office, although she is not technically serving as a government employee, according to an attorney for the first daughter.latimes.com(See also Ivanka Trump, Unprecedented Actions)

The attorney says she will receive a government-issued phone and a security clearance for classified information.

A examination of public records reveals that there are at least 20 families, joined by either blood or marriage, in which multiple members hold some federal post or appointment. including the family of some of Trump’s most prominent campaign supporters and agency officials, such as Rudy Giuliani’s son, Seb Gorka’s wife, and Eric Trump’s brother-in-law.thedailybeast.com(See also Conflicts of Interest)

2018.02.19

The president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., is making what has been dubbed an unofficial visit to India to promote his family’s real estate projects, but he’s also planning to deliver a foreign policy speech on Indo-Pacific relations at an event with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.washingtonpost.com(See also Conflicts of Interest, Donald Trump Jr, Trump Business)

2018.02.27

Officials in at least four countries have privately discussed ways they can manipulate Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, by taking advantage of his complex business arrangements, financial difficulties and lack of foreign policy experience, according to current and former U.S. officials familiar with intelligence reports on the matter.washingtonpost.com(See also Jared Kushner, Corruption, Foreign Policy, China, Israel, Mexico)

Among those nations discussing ways to influence Kushner to their advantage were the United Arab Emirates, China, Israel and Mexico, the current and former officials said.

2018.02.27

Presidential son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner has had his security clearance downgraded — a move that will prevent him from viewing many of the sensitive documents to which he once had unfettered access.politico.com(See also Jared Kushner, John Kelly)

Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao Thursday defended her brother-in-law‘s controversial nomination to head the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, despite the fact that he lacks experience in government and, according to his LinkedIn profile, has confined his professional activities during the past six years to managing his family trust fund.politico.com(See also Corruption, Elaine Chao, Department of Transportation)

Samantha Dravis, the former policy chief at the Environmental Protection Agency, told a congressional committee that Scott Pruitt, the administrator, asked her to help find his wife a job as a fund-raiser at the Republican Attorneys General Association, and used staff for other personal errands.nytimes.com(See also Scott Pruitt, Environmental Protection Agency, Corruption)

2018.07.09

Donald Trump enacted tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese goods, affecting hundreds of products from boats to medical devices and auto parts, but the clothing industry was mostly spared from the tariffs, meaning Ivanka Trump’s foreign-made products for her fashion line will be unaffected.huffingtonpost.com(See also Conflicts of Interest, Trump Business, China, Trade, Ivanka Trump)

Assessment

Darren Samuelsohn — Politico

Samuelsohn quotes Newt Gingrich's take on Trump's children taking roles in the White House:

“We’ve never seen this kind of wealth in the White House, and so traditional rules don’t work,” Gingrich said Monday during an appearance on NPR’s "The Diane Rehm Show" about the president-elect’s business interests. “We’re going to have to think up a whole new approach.”

And should someone in the Trump administration cross the line, Gingrich has a potential answer for that too.

“In the case of the president, he has a broad ability to organize the White House the way he wants to. He also has, frankly, the power of the pardon,” Gingrich said. “It’s a totally open power. He could simply say, ‘Look, I want them to be my advisers. I pardon them if anyone finds them to have behaved against the rules. Period. Technically, under the Constitution, he has that level of authority.”